My Lucky Day

What a day.

I walked to UNAD this morning, and I think everyone in Kampala got together and decided to acknowledge me more. It was crazy! Twice as many people as usual yelled “muzungo” and tons more cars/bodas honked at me. Two boda drivers actually pulled up next to me and stopped their bikes to try to convince me to accept a ride, offering to drive me for free. They didn’t seem to believe I liked “footing it.” But I walked all the way there.

I got to UNAD around 11:00 am. I hadn’t been there yet this week. I walked in right as everyone was going to a meeting, so I went to a couch and starting reading. Three or four hours later, the meeting ending. In the US, people would tell you to come back because the meeting would be long, but I got another lesson in Ugandan sense of time. They didn’t need to mention it because no one minds waiting. I was actually fine; thank goodness I brought a book.

Florence came back and gave me the details about next week’s conference on HIV/AIDS education for disabled populations, which I decided to attend. It is in Masaka, which is south of Kampala and about 30 miles south of the Equator! I am going south of the Equator! I am so excited; the only sad thing is that I don’t know if there will be any flushing toilets for me to see it drain in the opposite direction from the Northern Hemisphere. If you go to the Equator in Uganda, they totally show you the toilet demonstration. Anyway, I am excited to see another part of Uganda. Masaka is right on Lake Victoria, which hopefully I will be able to see.

Since I hadn’t been at UNAD in a while, one woman asked me if I had “been lost.” It is a Ugandan phrase that means someone was not around for a while, but I still haven’t quite figured out how to respond to it. I wasn’t around, but I wasn’t actually lost. So I just smiled.

Florence invited me to a meeting in the afternoon, and I decided not to attend because I had some other UNAD people I wanted to talk to. After Florence left, someone casually mentioned that the meeting was on HIV/AIDS education, so I ran to catch up with Florence. I’m super glad I went. I met the head honchos of a bunch of DPOs (Disabled Persons Organizations) who I heard speak at the conference a few weeks ago, and they all agreed to meet with me and gave me their cards. The meeting started about 1 ½ hours late…I don’t think I will ever get used to Ugandan time. In addition, the meeting was held in a small library of materials on HIV/AIDS education for the disabled!!! Needless to say, I am going back there soon. It was quite a lucky day.

Tonight we had waffles for dinner, so I will be in a good mood for the rest of the night. I am currently compiling notes and questions from today’s meeting and trying to read the news…those webpages are the hardest to get to load. So let me know is something big happens in the world because I might miss it.

Sarah